棗 natsume (tea caddy)

棗 natsume (tea caddy) , late 1700s–early 1800s, Edo period (1600–1868)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: lacquer; wood; gold; lead; silver

Dimensions:
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 7.3 x 6.9 cm
Object Height/Diameter (Height x Diameter): 2 7/8 x 2 11/16 in

Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial

Accession number: 1929.0013.a,b

Not on display

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Label texts

Collection Cards: Mindful

Tea is an important resource and cultural practice in Japan. There are many different kinds of containers, tools, serving utensils and rituals for making and drinking tea. This container is a Japanese tea box, made to hold tea leaves or matcha powder for tea ceremonies. The box is decorated with golden treasures for good luck, including a mallet, a money bag, weights, a key, folded scrolls, cloves, and a magical cloak and bamboo hat that gave the wearer invisibility.

A ritual is an activity with certain steps that someone does in the same order every time, often related to religion or spirituality. Lots of people have bedtime rituals like taking a bath, putting on pajamas, brushing their teeth, reading a book, or listening to relaxing music or sounds as they fall asleep.

What things do you do every day in the same order? Can you think of a step you could add or already do that makes you feel comforted or relaxed?

Salina Art Center: Shattering the Void: Realms of Meaning in East Asian Art

Natsume are small containers for tea powder (matcha) used to prepare thin tea (usucha), the style of tea served in the second half of a formal tea ceremony, or by itself during a more informal gathering. They are also called usuki and usually are made of lacquerware decorated with gold leaf, as in this example.

Teaching Gallery Label:
"The Tea Ceremony," Apr-2014, Kris Imants Ercums
Natsume are small containers for tea powder (matcha) used to prepare thin tea (usucha), the style of tea served in the second half of a formal tea ceremony or by itself during a more informal gathering. They are also called usuki and usually are made of lacquerware decorated with gold leaf as in this example.

Exhibition Label:
Asian Gallery, Summer 2003, Youmi Efurd
One of the greatest technical achievements of artists in East Asia has been lacquer ware. The preserving and protective properties of lacquer tree sap were discovered at least as early as the Shang dynasty (ca. 1830-1027 BCE) in China and perhaps by the third century BCE in Japan. Throughout the following centuries a great variety of other techniques of lacquer decoration were perfected. They range from the application of many layers of variously colored lacquers that might be carved, incised, or inlaid to the application of a single layer of transparent lacquer simply to enhance the beauty of the wood grain for an otherwise unadorned object.